Are the beBee waters getting choppy? Time to launch a rescue vessel?

Let me answer my own rhetorical questions: HELL NO!

By my count, in the last couple of weeks, there have been a tonne of postings about bullies, trolls, meanies, trumped-up b.s. artists, love bugs, pseudo-intellectual brats, alcoholics, geezers, burnt out former dopers, ersatz writers, and cynical bastards intent only on driving the innocent from the garden of beBee.

Perhaps, since I was adorned with the beBee Ambassador ribbon (for which I am grateful and pleased and proud and enthused), my sensitivity has risen.

But, I don't think so. Because at the same time I have read some wonderful posts and comments. I have enjoyed intellectual stimulation and earnest provocation. I have laughed so hard water came out of my nose. (If memory serves it was @Randy Keho who made that happen.) I have seen a Raging Introvert do a live buzz from the shores of Lake Ontario. I have witnessed emotional vulnerability and genuine compassion. It was my great honour to be supported in a Kickstarter campaign by Bees from America, Canada, Holland, South Africa, Israel, and Spain.

So, then I thought I should do another sort of reality check because I had also come across some controversy about whether the numbers beBee was claiming to pull for writers were reflected in reality. I am so not gonna wade into the relative qualitative and quantitative value of view v. likes v. relevants v. shares v. comments. There's a whole lotta folks on beBee who can do that way better than I can and some day they may even publish something that is meaningful! (That last bit of cynicism was just for you @Aurorasa Sima!)

Anyway, based upon my experience alone here's what I learned:

I first posted to Producer on April 6, 2016. Since that time I have posted 39 times. Nowhere near as prolific as many Bees but who cares. That replicates, sort of, what I would previously have done on LinkedIn - except I joined LinkedIn YEARS ago!

I digress.

Those 39 postings on beBee generated 60,300 views or an average of 1,546 views/post. Now, this pales compares to Alan Geller cranking out 50,000 views for one post but for this old fart that was a pleasing and surprising result.

The postings received 681 relevants for an average of 17.5/post. Again, I suspect this may not hold up against many other Bees but remember - I, at this point, am interested only in what I experienced.

Now, whether or not these numbers in the great world of social media are good, bad or indifferent - the kick the shit out of anything I ever came close to on LinkedIn.

And, while I can't track comments, I will tell you this: the commentary threads and their quality have far surpassed those I ever enjoyed on LI.

AND, so far, no one here has told me to commit an impossible physical act upon myself which did happen on LI!

In summary, beBee works for me.

I view it kind of like the small town in which I grew up. There were some wonderful people and some real arseholes. There were people you loved to talk to, some you tolerated politely, and others you crossed the street to avoid. Some you just didn't get at all and consider them to be either mentally damaged or just too spaced out to engage on this plane.

My efforts to promote beBee will continue and despite concerns about the tone of some of our discourse, I would rather risk slight offense for banal indifference.

That small town comment is perhaps the best way to describe this wonderful meeting place. It' like the barbershop my Dad introduced me to as a pre-teen. There was a floating poker game in the back room but the real entertainment was the buzz between those seated in the three barber chairs, the barbers and those awaiting trims. Social media doesn't hold a candle to the sanity of a room that held folks from divergent points of view listening and responding to one another...usually without rancor about any topic you can imagine.

Really enjoyed this @Don Kerr. Very refreshing to be on a site where people can interact, even disagree, but keep things civil and respectful. And I'd add that BeBee provides that level of creative thinking and sharing creative ideas that is discouraged on other professional sites, but which is natural in your day-to-day work activities.

#76 Yeah yeah I've heard it all before. I was just yankin' yer literary chain. Which really does make me a wurdwanker doesn't it?

You think you've got a stigma to overcome? Hey pal you may feel like your riding a dangerous beast into poetic purgatory but I literally live a dozen miles from Shakespeare Central of America. That's the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland, famous for making Shakespeare and Chautauqua nearly synonymous. Born there actually. Didn't actually know the Bard. Not quite that old... yet.

#74 Twain Phil? As in "Mark Twain"? Some of us twains are just tawdry at best! Sorry, just couldn't resist being my normal smart-assed wurdwanker this lazy Sunday afternoon...before all hell breaks loose during the mega-reporting mayhem this coming Tuesday. I hope you're having a pleasant one yourself. - MDD